Panthera Spelaea

Svetlana’s parents lived in what I’d describe as a suburban ranch house on the north side of the Volga River in Rybinsk, not far from the hydroelectric dam where Sergei worked. He parked to the side, then waved me in as I backed the truck to the garage door. As soon as I put the vehicle in park, Nadezna was flinging open the passenger door to get to her daughter. Svetlana’s mother was Anna’s height, plump and high in energy with her graying hair under a scarf. She was hugging her tight and speaking rapidly in Russian.

I looked at Anna, who gave me an ‘it’s normal for them’ look and followed me out the driver’s door. Svetlana and her parents met us by the garage, and Nadezna smiled as she saw me. She greeted Anna with a hug and a kiss on both cheeks, then did the same for me. “You will call me Mama,” she told me. “My little girl finally brings home a man to us!”

“Let the boy stand up straight,” Sergei told her. “We will unload the truck. Take the girls to the kitchen and get lunch ready before we die of hunger.”

Nadezna smacked his arm. “You could skip a meal now and then,” she said. She looked back towards me, and her face lit up with happiness. “Welcome to our home, John. You two are such a handsome couple. You will have beautiful grandchildren for me. When are you getting married?”

“Momma!” Svetlana was turning red with embarrassment.

“Oh, stop. I see the way your eyes light up. It is love, and he’s making you happy. That’s all I wanted for you.”

“Your daughter is a special woman, and I love her,” I confessed.

“See? No reason not to marry. Come, come, we’ll talk in the kitchen. I’m making all your favorites.” Nadezna guided my girls into the house, chattering in rapid-fire Russian the whole way.

“I need to learn Russian before she has my whole life planned out for me,” I said as I turned back to Sergei.

“Too late,” he said with a grin. We opened up the garage and laid a tarp on the floor, then unloaded the truck. The girls didn’t have much furniture, and we left the boxes of clothes near the garage door. We finished in fifteen minutes or so. “Come, we have to return the truck.”

I followed him through the streets to a gas station, where I paid to fill the tanks. It was bad form to borrow something and bring an empty tank back. We ended up at an electrical supply house, where I parked it in the lot. Sergei went inside to return the key, and then we got in his car for the ride home.

It wasn’t a comfortable ride, given the questions Sergei had for me. “You must realize I wasn’t happy to find out my daughter was dating a suspect in two separate multiple murder sprees,” he said as we left the lot.

“I wasn’t comfortable being a suspect,” I said. “I am innocent of the charges. Svetlana knows this, she knows me, and she remains at my side. I have to believe that the Russian Government will eventually come to the same conclusion.”

“And in the meantime? You have no job, no passport. You are living off your parent’s money.”

I nodded. “None of this was by choice. The publicity from the murders got me kicked off the expedition. I can’t return home, and the University of Moscow won’t have anything to do with me. I am lucky that my parents can support me, but they are doing this until I can resolve my legal issues.”

“What will you do then?”

That was a good question. “I do not know, Sergei. The stain of these charges will remain on me even if they never can bring criminal charges. I can’t prove I didn’t do something when I can’t remember what happened. The last thing I remember in Siberia was touching the cave lion, then waking up a week later. In Moscow, I led the gang away from the girls and made my way home.”

“You protected them.”

“Did Svetlana tell you about the subway?”

“She said the men in that gang harassed her, and you beat them up.”

“One of the men had his hand up her shirt, and they were talking shit about them all having a turn with her. I told them to stop, they pulled a knife, and I put all three in the hospital. Nobody does that to an innocent girl around me.” He nodded at that, understanding better now why I used such violence. “The kids were in a gang, and they came for us again with a dozen people. We escaped, and they ran into a hungry lion. I didn’t see what happened, but there is a certain satisfaction in knowing such predators died at the teeth of a real predator.”

“A police officer died.”

“Yes. That is a tragedy. It is bad news for me because it gives the State every reason to find and punish someone, even if they can’t find the lion or its owner. Until they arrest and convict him, I remain in limbo.” We didn’t say anything for a minute. “Getting back to your original question? I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to work in paleobiology again. I will ask my father for advice when we talk next.”

“You must understand my worry. Svetlana is our only child, and I want her to be happy and secure. I was hoping she would meet someone through her work who could provide well for her. She has all the intelligence and beauty to become the wife of a doctor, an industrialist, or a powerful politician. She could escape this dying town forever.”

“And she met me, instead.”

“Yes. You make my girl happy, and she loves you. You’ve also ruined her career and her name. Those girls were all over the news, advocating for your release and protesting your innocence. Svetlana and Anna are forever tied to these murders, just like you are. They will find another job, but not with the pay and the prestige of working at Central Clinical. I worry their lives will be harder because of all this.”

He was a man wanting the best for his child, and I wasn’t what he dreamed about for her. “We love each other, and we will get through this together,” I told him. “I am not lazy, uneducated, or disloyal. I will do whatever it takes to give Svetlana the life of her dreams.”

“I believe you,” he told me. “Will you be bringing my Svetlana home to America?”

“She needs to meet my family as I meet hers,” I told him. “We will see where this journey takes us. It hasn’t been long since the Prosecutor threatened me with imprisonment and a firing squad. We haven’t worked all the details out yet.”

“Svetlana said you are all staying in a hotel downtown.”

“Yes. It is close to multiple hospitals, and the girls are eager to find new jobs. Once I know the town a little better, we'll look for something more permanent.”

“And what will you be doing?”

“Learning Russian and keeping them happy,” I told him. “It’s not a bad life.”

“Svetlana said they work for you? You pay them?”

“In a way. I’ve had blackout events since Siberia, and they are unpredictable. I was worried I might hurt myself if I was alone. Back in Moscow, I had my lawyer draw up a private medical care contract that gives those two power to make medical decisions where I cannot, and they agreed to work it so I was never alone. I moved into their apartment, partly for that, but mostly to be with Svetlana. It worked out with Anna working night shifts and compensated for interfering with their lives. That is why we are all staying at the hotel together, in a two-bedroom suite.”

“With Anna in the other bedroom?”

“I love your daughter, Sergei. She loves me.” I wasn’t going to say anymore because he already knew I was knocking boots with his daughter every chance I could get.

“Does Svetlana know you are cheating on her with Anna?” Oh, shit. “She couldn’t hide that satisfied, dazed look a woman gets after great sex. I’ve seen it many times with my Nadenza, and I saw the same look this morning on Svetlana’s face too.”